Fourth Wall
by Stefan Twoflower Gagne
Summary: Um... odd. Experimental. Written in one caffiene induced rush. Meta-fanfiction at its weirdest. Best I can say about it.


Ranma 1/2 : Fourth Wall  
  
A Ranma 1/2 FanFic by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne  
  
(All characters copyright Rumiko-san, obviously. If I ever  
even considered claiming that these were my own characters  
I'd probably be thrown into a small cell where I'd be forced  
to eat my own psychotherapist to live.)  
  
-=-  
  
Author's notes.  
  
1. This is highly experimental weirdness. Deal. If you'd  
like a quality, established story by me instead, may I suggest  
the fine Ministry of Confusion series!   
  
2. I didn't write this. Well, no, I wrote it. But I  
didn't write it the way it looks in the story, I just wrote the  
story. I mean to say that the story was written by someone  
entirely else, not even me in some sort of twisted artistic  
disguise, but I really wrote it in reality. So calm down, I'm  
still sane. Umm. Just read the thing and you'll understand,  
with luck. :)  
  
3. I mean to slam no one. This is a concept work only, not  
a grudge peice.  
  
*  
  
Nerima is a quiet town. Perhaps not a quiet town, but  
definitely a town set in its ways. There were deuls, there were  
ancient chinese artifacts. There were cosmic disasters and  
several foreign princes showing up to kidnap its citizens,  
typically of the tomboyish variety. (the citizens, not the  
princes.) It's not a town that adapts to change very well, but  
it will. Yes. It will.  
  
On the first day of change, Ranma was on his way to school,  
as usual, with Akane in tow, sometimes alternating to Akane on  
her way to school with Ranma in tow, depending on the state of  
the arguement. They were late, and taking the shortcut to school  
that ran past Nekohanten.  
  
Ranma swallowed hard. He wasn't looking forward to this  
shortcut, since invariably it ended up as a longcut, adding  
minutes to his trip to peel Shampoo off his person and continue  
along.  
  
Akane wasn't looking forward to the shortcut either. It  
always infuriated her when she saw that baka fooling around with  
Shampoo, when they were supposed to be going to school. But  
there was no way to make it on time the usual way, so she'd have  
to risk Ranma being the letcherous male pig he was and hope that  
  
"NIHAO!!!!" Shampoo shouted, springing from the door to  
Nekohanten like a Patriot missle intercepting a Saotome SCUD.   
Ranma went down hard, an unmeasured (it would be rude) number of  
pounds of happy chinese girl playing snuggy-poo with him.  
  
"Er, yo, Shampoo," Ranma said weakly. "Could you let go  
now?"  
  
"Ranma need take Shampoo on date!" Shampoo said, like she  
always says, with little variation... (hmph) "Ignore stupid  
school and take Shampoo on date! Is okay, yes?"  
  
"No! Is not okay! I have a test to take!" Ranma whined,  
unable to peel the girl from him.  
  
As usual, Akane had to interrupt by forcabling yanking Ranma  
away by the pigtail. "Excuse me. We are late," she stated, and  
ran off, Ranma flying around behind her, whimpering.  
  
Cologne pogoed out to watch the pair leave. "No luck again,  
great grandchild?"  
  
"Shampoo succeed sometimes, when Akane no around," Shampoo  
said, getting up from the ground. "Shampoo need get obstacle out  
of way. Shampoo SHOULD just kill Akane, get on with it."  
  
"Patience, child. There are more elegant ways around this,"  
Cologne said.  
  
"Great grandmother, lets make potion to make Ranma fall in   
in love with Shampoo!" Shampoo suggested.  
  
Cologne chuckled. Another familiar story, but one she  
didn't mind playing out again. "Alright. We--  
  
But Cologne paused, looking at Shampoo.  
  
"What wrong?" Shampoo asked, looking behind herself,  
confused.  
  
"Possibly... nothing," Cologne said. "Hmmm. Perhaps we  
should rest a bit and consider, Shampoo, before launching into a  
plot."  
  
"Ano? Why?"  
  
"Trust your great granny, dear," Shampoo chuckled. She  
frowned, wrinkled face furrowing in thought. "Definitely not  
start anything unusual today."  
  
*  
  
"*ALOHA*, kiddies!!!!" the Princpial boomed over the PA  
system of Furinkan high, knocking most of the students out of  
their seats. (He recently had Sony Inc. upgrade the speakers;  
now, they went to 11.) "We have a VERRRRRRY special arrival here  
at Furinkan High today, and I personally want everybody to give  
him a good 'ol Furinkan ALOHA! His name is Ace, and he is  
currently in the red hall outside Home Ec. Anybody failing to  
greet him today will be shaved. Aloha!"  
  
Akane blinked. "Has the Princpal finally flipped?"  
  
"If so, Nabiki stands to collect a great deal of money,"  
Ranma grumbled. "I had bet he would crack mentally a few  
semesters from now. That is assuming he hasn't already."  
  
"Hey, guys, have you heard about this Ace guy?" Ukyou asked,  
leaning across the row of desks. Both Akane and Ranma shook  
their head. "He's supposed to be really cute! And he fights,  
too. Might be competition for Ran-chan here," she laughed.  
  
"Feh," Ranma fehed. "Another pretty boy martial artist in  
town. No big deal."  
  
"He better not go after me," Akane grumbled. "I hate that.   
I really do. I HOPED it was over with Kunou-upperclassman,  
buuut..."  
  
With that, the door swung open, and the gaudiest dressed  
gaijin Ranma had ever seen hopped into the class. He had on an  
outfit even the Principal would get eyestrain from looking at;  
sort of a wild mix of wild purple, deep blue, neon green,  
shocking yellow and electric orange. Somehow, though, he wore it  
well.  
  
"HEYA! I'm Ace," he grinned. "Pleased to meet you, guys.   
Hmm. So, this is study hall, eh?"  
  
Akane nodded. Typically she, Ranma and Ukyou had study hall  
at the same time; and them alone. Another of the  
administration's bizarre scheduling errors. Kind of like how  
Ryouga was assigned to Calculus for seven periods a day.  
  
"Coolness," Ace beamed. "I've got this class too. No,  
don't tell me... Akane Tendo, Ranma Saotome and Ukyo Kuonji.   
Ne?"  
  
"Uh, hai," Akane nodded.  
  
"Cool. I looked at the roster," Ace said, swinging a chair  
over and sitting on it backwards, next to Ukyou. She giggled;  
Ranma scowled. "Well, I'm really looking forward to studying  
with you guys. Honestly and truly. So, what are you studying?"  
  
"Very little," Ranma grumped. "Basically, we're expected to  
sit in here for an hour without any direction, but if we leave,  
it's considered cutting class."  
  
"Our Principal is not of this world," Ukyou explained.  
  
"Yeah, I heard," Ace nodded. "He seems fun, though. Well,  
if you don't study, what do you normally do?"  
  
"Talk," Akane shrugged. "Sometimes we push aside the desks  
and spar, or eat lunch. Occasionally Ukyou and I whip Ranma's  
butt at poker."  
  
"Hey, is that your lunch?" Ace asked, pointing to Akane's  
bento. "I forgot to pack mine. Can I sample yours?"  
  
"Uh, okay, but--"  
  
"NO! You'll die!" Ranma warned, before getting a mallet to  
the head.  
  
Ace shrugge,d, unwrapped the bento and took a few bites.  
  
What passed over his face was... no, it was... not disgust!   
Definitely not disguist. He actually liked it...  
  
"I knew it," Ace grinned. "Heh. Good cooking, Akane. Very  
good."  
  
9 The three just sat there, dumbfounded, while he downed the  
box, looking triumphant.  
  
*  
  
MEANWHILE, at Nekohanten, Cologne was furious.  
  
"You've got to pack faster!" Cologne said, chasing Shampoo  
around as she put together her things. "I can't rely on you  
being able to just find supplies outside, and I don't know how  
long you'll have to stay away."  
  
"Great grandmother, I don't understand! Why Shampoo have to  
leave Nerima?" Shampoo asked.  
  
"Shampoo..." Cologne started, calming down. "Look. You  
trust your great granny, yes?"  
  
"Oh, yes, great grandmother!" Shampoo beamed.  
  
"Okay, good. Remember when you had to go off and face  
Prince Kirin in, China?"  
  
Shampoo nodded.  
  
"And when we all got trapped on Toma's island, and Ranma had  
to rescue everybody?"  
  
Shampoo nodded.  
  
"And even some of our worse foes, such as Joh... Pantyhose  
Taro and Ryu Kumon?"  
  
Shampoo nodded.  
  
"They're peanuts compared to what this Ace character can  
do," Cologne grumbled. "Foolish, stupid, stupid boy."  
  
"Ano... who's Ace?" Shampoo asked.  
  
"Never mind you. Please, Shampoo, swear to your great  
granny that you'll be out of the city by lunchtime. You've got  
to swear it. I promise to send word when it's safe for your  
return."  
  
Shampoo was confused. Why would Cologne want her to leave?   
They had stood up to any villians who came to town, Cologne  
included. Nothing made her afraid.  
  
"And nothing does," Cologne added, as if reading Shampoo's  
thoughts. "But this is dangerous. I can probably handle it.   
But for safety's sake, you must promise me you'll leave.   
Alright?"  
  
*  
  
HOWEVER, Shampoo was having a hard time leaving.  
  
First of all, all the roads were blocked. Traffic accidents  
hit an all time high in Nerima that day; any exits from the city  
were impassable. The Tokyo airport was shut down due to, uh,  
fog, even if Shampoo had enough money to leave.  
  
"But Shampoo swear to leave," she pouted. "Shampoo find  
way. If need be, Shampoo walk. Have done before."  
  
But the roofs WERE dangerous places. Shampoo couldn't  
travel by them the whole way, even if it was safe before. She  
just couldn't. She had to stay.  
  
"Hmm," Shampoo thought. "Well... perhaps stay. Long enough  
to find way out. Or maybe just go back and ask great grandmother  
what wrong... or maybe go take Ranma on date!"  
  
Shampoo liked this idea a lot. Very much so. She turned  
around, and marched back towards the school, intent on seeing her  
ai ren.  
  
*  
  
Cologne was busy fighting her own personal war.  
  
"There is a fine line, boy, between what you're doing and  
madness," she wrote, in a neatly composed letter she had no  
intention of sending anywhere, since he WOULD get the message.   
"I'm going to have to ask you to stop. I'm wise to your plans.   
I will not allow any more of your drama and foolishness in this  
town. If you continue, I will fight you every step of the way.   
Know this and stop, if you have any shred of sense in you."  
  
That's when the large yellow bulldozers destroyed  
Nekohanten! Yeah!  
  
*  
  
"So, what's your sign?" Ace smirked. Akane laughed; Ukyou  
laughed.  
  
Ranma frowned. This was just strange. This guy came in,  
ate Akane's cooking -- LIVED -- and now he was FLIRTING with  
them. With BOTH his fiancees.  
  
"Oh, I'm a Libra," Akane smiled.  
  
"What a coincidence! So am I," Ace grinned. "I bet Ranma's  
a Gemini."  
  
The two laughed, since they knew he was, and got the joke.   
Ranma frowned and sank further into his seat.  
  
"So, would you two lovely ladies like to blow this pop stand  
and hit the town?" Ace suggested?  
  
"Okay!" Akane and Ukyou chimed in stereo.  
  
"Whoa. WHOA. Hold up," Ranma said, jumping to his feet.   
"Akane? Ucchan? Have you lost your marbles? We've barely known  
this guy for fifteen minutes! What's going on?"  
  
"Oh, chill out, Ranma," Akane sneered. "At least Ace  
doesn't insult me, like you do."  
  
"And he doesn't treat me like a boy," Ucchan added.  
  
"No, no, I think I got it. Ace, what're you using? Chinese  
mind control powder? Magic wand? Some sort of girl-charming  
flute?" Ranma accused. "Well, just hear this, pal. I've chewed  
up types like you in my sleep many times before. Realize this  
beating's been coming to you for quite some time now."  
  
Ace just smiled. "I never realized just how much fun this  
might be."  
  
*  
  
"Jeez, Ran-chan, a six month old baby could have put up a  
better fight," Ukyou grumbled, mopping up some of the blood Ranma  
had spilled.  
  
Ranma blinked. That was a fight? It was over so... soon.   
Ace dispatched him into a small pulpy mass in less than... the  
speed he moved... it was incredible! He was going to have to  
pay, of course, but it was still incredible.  
  
"You just lie there, Ranma, Akane and Ucchan and I have  
things to attend to," Ace said, walking out of the room arm in  
arm with the two. "Say, have you girls ever played a game called  
'Eleven Minutes in Heaven?'"  
  
Ranma thrashed in fury, but couldn't get up. He was just  
too badly beaten. Ace had won after all, he was MUCH cooler than  
Ranma ever wa  
  
"Get up, boy," Cologne said, poking Ranma with her stick.   
And Ranma got up.  
  
"Huh?" Ranma said, feeling himself for injuries. There  
weren't any. THERE SHOULD BE! There weren't any, boy.  
  
"We don't have much time," Cologne said. "Hang on, I'll  
change scenes."  
  
*  
  
Ranma sipped tea at Nekohanten, after hearing Cologne's  
explanation.  
  
"A magic brick?"  
  
"No, no, boy, not a magic brick," Cologne sighed.   
"Something worse than magic."  
  
"Old ghoul, I don't get it. So what IS Ace? Some sort of  
master magician? A god?"  
  
"Worse," Cologne spoke softly. "He's a bad writer."  
  
"You had me, then you lost me," Ranma said, scratching his  
head.  
  
"I should have recognized it immediately when Shampoo  
repeated the word 'in' twice," Cologne said. "There are ways to  
tell, you see. Rumiko would never mess up lettering that bad,  
and if she did, it would be a single incident, without repeating.   
But then my name was replaced with Shampoo's... and I decided to  
investigate."  
  
"You speakin' in riddles or something?" Ranma asked. "Look,  
this is amusing and all, but I'm afraid I need to go hurt Ace  
badly for what he's done--"  
  
"You can't hurt him. He's got a brick from the Fourth Wall,  
and can stop you just by saying he did," Cologne said. "He can  
annihilate you in a page break and you wouldn't even be able to  
resist, without my help. You're lucky I thought of you, while I  
was trying to find Shampoo... Ace overpowered my hold on her, I'm  
afraid."  
  
"English! Speak ENGLISH! Not all this weird crap."  
  
"Japanese, Ranma. We're speaking Japanese. I hope Ace's  
hold hasn't affected you that deeply--"  
  
"I did say Japanese," Ranma denied. "Can you please just  
explain it again?"  
  
Cologne rubbed her temples. This could take some doing.   
But still, an informed audience beats a confused audience, as my  
great grandmother and her great grandmother before her said.  
  
Ranma, right now, Ace has a chunk of the Fourth Wall. It's  
not a normal wall, like, say, the Great Wall of China. It's not  
even magic. It's something that grows in your head with every  
television show, every comic book, every movie you see. Anywhere  
worlds are created through art or actor, the Fourth Wall grows.   
This is normal; if we didn't have a wall in our heads to help us  
live in denial that maybe, just maybe these things existed, we'd  
all go--  
  
"You're not saying anything," Ranma said.  
  
"I'm narrating," Cologne said. "I think I'm going to have  
to push the limits of what I can do here, and make you go out of  
character to understand this. Sorry, m'boy. I'll put you back  
into rights after, I swear."  
  
"What're you--" and Ranma was filled with Enlightenment,  
from head to toe. And despite his simple nature, he understood  
what I was saying, and more :  
  
This world, Ranma, was originally created by a very powerful  
writer by the name of Rumiko. Rumiko is one of the rare  
individuals who have broken a hole in their own Fourth Wall, and  
use the bricks they retrieve to shape worlds, to visit worlds, to  
design worlds. But unlike others with gaps in the wall, Rumiko  
was stable and handled her worlds with great care and love.  
  
Rumiko has made Nerima the proud place it is today. She  
would never lead us astray, even if she lead us down a long road,  
and won't let us walk alway sad in the end. I myself knew  
nothing of this until awhile back. I learned of these mysteries,  
and these horrors, by means I'll explain shortly.  
  
The point is that others picked up the reins. They all  
sought one thing, control over an established world, to tell  
their own stories in the framework. Some controlled it well and  
spun tales that would do the Rumiko proud. Some had slippery  
control, but did a fine job, with determination and love of the  
original. All in all, good men and women.  
  
But sometimes there would be a writer so bad that the tale  
he spun shattered the conceptions and rules to the world, and  
sent it into another direction. Not always a bad direction, but  
some directions it was sent in were simply horrible. Horrible,  
horrible. I won't relate the few glimpses of these nightmares  
I've seen.  
  
Fortunately, none of them had a hole in their Fourth Wall,  
so they had no real effect other than making the others outside  
our world laugh, scowl, or snort and carry on with their own  
affairs. The writers thought they merely wrote fiction, and  
therefore the world-deviations they made didn't affect you and I  
in any way we could detect. They're right in some respects. The  
only ones who could make perminant changes to this universe were  
ones who physically held a brick of the Wall. Rumiko, and two  
others.  
  
One of those is 'Ace'. Sad as it is.  
  
The other is the one who explained it all to me. He wasn't  
a writer, exactly, more of a dreamer, therefore he did not  
disrupt this world very much. But he had the misfortune of going  
insane one day, and to try to cling to his life, he hung onto his  
Fourth Wall and the land beyond it; and the wall came tumbling  
down.  
  
"He is here now," Cologne said. "And I need to take you to  
him."  
  
*  
  
"How did you DO that?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Scene shift," Cologne said.  
  
Ranma panicked. What was going on? He... he understood it,  
of course. He had to, for everybody's sakes. (chuckle) But he  
didn't WANT to understand it... he wanted to go home, to--  
  
"It's hard, realizing the thinness of your life," Cologne  
said, patting a kind hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I rush things  
upon you only because time counts. I need you to meet the one  
who fell into our world from his own."  
  
"Hi," the insane man waved.  
  
"Hi," Ranma replied.  
  
"I could feel him affecting this place," the boy said,  
shivering. "It reminded me of the times I thought I could come  
here, back when I was... there. I wanted so bad."  
  
"Calm, child. We will stop him."  
  
"He has a loose brick, doesn't he?" the writer asked. "I  
knew it. A broken fragment of the safety wall. They're  
dangerous. I'd still be mad today if I had mine. I gave it to  
you to protect and you're just changing things more with it.   
You're breaking the metaphor, Cologne."  
  
"The metaphor can be healed," Cologne said. "Once the one  
who breaks it for greed is done with. Ranma, are you getting all  
this?"  
  
"Yes," Ranma said, because he was. Because Cologne made him  
understand it.  
  
"Cologne, I don't think you can stop him," the writer said.   
"You're still a bit part in this series. You manipulate, but  
Ranma's the hero. Drama's going to dictate--"  
  
"Drama is what gets us in these problems," Ranma said,  
trying to participate. "If... if what you say is true, if we're  
in a manga... that's half the problem, isn't it? Dramatic laws?"  
  
"Ranma has a point," Cologne said. "We should end this fast  
and hard."  
  
"NONONONO!" the writer almost screamed. "You've done enough  
damage! The myths are dispelled for this one! Things might  
never be the same. Do not break the world further by slapping a  
THE END marker and calling it quits! Ace wouldn't let you,  
anyway. He wants drama. Fight drama with drama."  
  
"Fighting him. Sounds good to me," Ranma said, cracking his  
knuckles. "Nobody turns my world on its ear and gets away  
with... um. Won't he just 'write' me into defeat?"  
  
"Give me the brick," the writer said. "I can fix it all.   
I'm a writer. I never wrote anything down but I wrote in my  
mind. I know the plot has been reduced to this, this barely-  
story, I can find a logical way out of the plot if you give me  
the brick, give it now, now, please, all of it, now, now, please,  
yes..."  
  
"STOP that!" Cologne said, bapping him. "You want to go  
insane again?"  
  
The writer blinked. "No... no. You're right, Cologne. I'm  
content to stay out of frame and stay calm here. Give the brick  
to Ranma. Let him finish what he has to finish."  
  
Cologne rotated on her walking staff, facing Ranma. "Ranma,  
it's up to you. Get the story back on its rails. A warning :  
I've had to resist Ace so far with this boy's brick he gave me,  
so long ago, the one I've used to try and defend this place. But  
once I let go, Ace will be in control and we'll be back in the  
plot."  
  
"What do I do?" Ranma asked.  
  
"It's simple. Follow the story, but guide it. Let your  
mind shape how you want it to be. But don't force the hand,  
don't do anything drastic! Be clever, but not overpowered.   
That's his way, and it will play right into his hand. And above  
all, don't trust him. He doesn't belong here."  
  
"What happens if I fail?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Well, he might just end up diverting the story off safely,  
to rot in its own desecration," the writer said. "Or if he's  
powerful enough, he might somehow influence the writers in Japan  
to adopt HIS storylines. That wouldn't be good. I don't want to  
see my favorite series turn into an otaku fantasy..."  
  
Ranma gulped, but nodded. "Alright. I'm ready."  
  
With that, Cologne pulled out nothing, the nothing that was  
only there in the mind. Mentally, it kind of looked like a  
substandard chunk of masonry. She pressed it into Ranma's ha  
  
*  
  
Ranma woke up from his extended nap in the study hall.   
Ugh... so sore. Ace was gonna pay for this, he decided. Why was  
this rock in his pocket? Must be important. Must be.  
  
With that, he got up and marched out of the room. Now,  
where was that little crud?  
  
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Nabiki wander  
by, wearing a harem girl outfit that left absolutely nothing to  
the imagination.  
  
"NABIKI!" Ranma gasped. "What on earth are you doing in  
that thing?"  
  
"I'm heading to Master Ace's love harem, of course," Nabiki  
said. "Didn't you hear the announcement? He's our new ruler  
over Nerima. He asked all the girls to go to room 1-E, and hey,  
why not? He's the most handsome man I've ever met. I've slept  
with him six times today already."  
  
Ranma gagged. But... somehow, he knew he should have  
expected something weird like this. From somewhere. Didn't  
someone try to explain something to hi--  
  
NO! Nobody did! You had a horrible dream, go lie down  
somewhere and sleep for, oh, say sixty years--  
  
He frowned. He knew at the core of it all was that Ace  
character. And no matter how he knew, he DID have a strong urge  
to go pound the living hell out of him.  
  
*  
  
Ranma kicked the door in to room 1-E, ignoring the  
frightened yelps of the various clad and unclad students in the  
room.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" Ace said, and promptly pounded  
him to death.  
  
*  
  
Ranma fingered the brick in his pocket idly. I don't THINK  
so, he chuckled to himself. Nobody dies in Nerima. Nobody.  
  
"No! You can't..." Ace said, stunned. But he noticed the  
lump in Ranma's pocket too. "A brick. You got a brick! HOW?!   
Are you a writer in disguise? Is this Biles? That goody two  
shoes--"  
  
Ranma slammed a fist into Ace's stomach, denying Ace a  
chance to his his godlike powers of lightning granted to him by  
mystic monks in San Jose.  
  
"I don't know how you're doing this," Ranma said, holding  
Ace up. "But you know what? I don't care if I don't comprehend  
it right now. You're going down, boy."  
  
"I can leave the story any time I want to by not writing!"  
Ace said. "Just watch!" And with that, he vanished.  
  
Ranma grinned. "You know what, he who looks in from out  
there? So can I, with this." He rubbed his brick and vanished  
as well.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Time passed.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
More time passed.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ace stumbled back into Nerima, bruised and battered. That  
was a mistake. Out in reality, Ranma was DEFINITELY stronger  
than he was. But here, here he could make a stand.  
  
Ranma appeared right alongside him. "So that's what you  
consider reality, huh, ya freak? I like my world better."  
  
"I like what I did to your world better than your world,"  
Ace said, spitting out blood and two teeth. "Look. Ranma. We  
can be reasonable. Alright, maybe I did a little too much. I  
can put things back, a bit, a bit."  
  
"You'll fix it?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Better than new," Ace nodded. "Why... we could solve the  
problems. Ukyou could get Ryouga. I never liked Konatsu,  
anyway. Mousse and Shampoo. You and Akane. And me and Nabiki  
and all the others, if you don't mind. Heck, I could write you  
up a mansion to live in, and have Kunou be your butler."  
  
Ranma laughed at that thought.  
  
"See? Isn't not bad, honest," Ace said. "Heck, you could  
even sleep with Akane. You'd like that, right?"  
  
"WHAT?! That... tomboy... and I?! That?"  
  
"I can work you out of the series constraints!" Ace  
volunteered. "I can even work you out of Japanese censorship  
laws. Wouldn't it be fun? Trust me, man!"  
  
*don't trust him*, Cologne had warned.  
  
"No," Ranma stated. "If anything happens... with Akane and  
me, it'll be in its own good time. I don't want your fantasies  
for my reality."  
  
"Feh! Fantasy! Reality! Big diff!" Ace laughed. "I've  
proven you CAN turn one into the other without going mad!   
Mostly. Point is, Ranma, team up with me, I can make your every  
wish come true for every two of mine."  
  
"No," Ranma repeated.  
  
Ace growled. "Then leave me alone for my own wishes to come  
true!"  
  
And with that, the very bowels of hell itself opened and  
great beasts came up, to tear Ranma in half and feast on his  
entrails. The bomb was dropped and he burned, it all burned, and  
I remade it all the way *I* wanted it. All the girls, all the  
fun, all for me.  
  
THE END  
  
"NO!" Ranma shouted, clutching at his brick. Things snapped  
back to normal; COMPLETELY to normal. Furinkan High. Akane.   
Ukyou. Nabiki. Nobody had even heard of Ace; the two stood  
somewhere, somewhere outside the continuum, since they no longer  
belonged. "I'm the hero and I override you under drama! And I  
won't have this! You've lost!"  
  
Ace stared. He lost all his work... "But I can get it back!   
With more power! I didn't want to have to do this, but hell, if  
it gets me my dream, I'll do it all the same! Tear down the  
walls!!!"  
  
Ranma paused. "Huh?" Cologne didn't mention this. Or did  
she? In fact, when DID he talk to Cologne?  
  
Ace reached up against his mind, feeling the edges. The  
wall of denial, the wall that let him enjoy entertainment without  
being entertainment. He grinned, and with a horrible scream, a  
scream of a soul torn away from its body, he pulled.  
  
The wall exploded with that scream, bricks and mortar  
flying. Invisible; invisible to the eye, visible to the mind,  
crushing bricks, crushing his mind, pulling his conscious thought  
into the fiction, leaving an empty shell to sit at the keys. He  
broke on through to the other side.  
  
"I... I did it," Ace said, stumbling around. He DID seem  
realer now, Ranma thought. Somehow. "And now, to crush you like  
a..."  
  
Ranma juggled two bricks, whistling innocently.  
  
Ace blinked. He rummaged through his pockets, but the chunk  
was gone. How? Did he not notice Saotome slipping in, while he  
was busy tearing away at his brain, and taking the one thing that  
kept him in control...  
  
I'm powerless, Ace thought.  
  
And that's when he got the royal beating all villians in  
Ranma 1/2 eventually recieve.  
  
*  
  
I'm surprised the boy... Ranma boy, that is... had enough  
power, focused through a lens of the will, to repair everything.   
I was expecting to have to do it all myself, through weeks of  
work. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. At least  
after it was over and I got my brick back, Ranma seemed to forget  
it all. Normality, at least the standard version of it, has  
resumed.  
  
Ace is living a life of pure obscurity, half-mad, unable to  
appear in a single panel or frame of animation or written word  
now. I've engineered it so the poor boy I got the original brick  
from is back in safety, a background person, in a street scene  
every now and then. He's happy where he is, watching, not  
writing. But I'm troubled.  
  
If real people have a wall to block out the fiction,  
fictional people have a wall to block out the real, yes? Perhaps  
my wall isn't as stable as it once was, knowing what I know.   
Doing what I've done. Maybe nobody has a right to warp reality;  
because fiction is reality and reality is fiction, at least from  
the view inside the manga. Maybe I have no right to deny others  
this right. If I denied it, Rumiko would have never been able to  
craft this world.  
  
No. Best not block the creativity. But best leave it in  
the hands of people more suited for it; the people not from my  
land, the creator and her minions, liscensed and non. I don't  
mind being a simple amazon with her bag of tricks, no. It's a  
pleasant existence. Gives a poor old gel something to do with  
her time. (chuckle)  
  
Which is why I've given all the bricks I had to Rumiko, and  
I'll never remember what happened in this mess. But it has to  
have happened, in order for it to have happened, which is why  
I've written the tale down, from start to finish. For it to  
exist somewhere. Everything has the right to exist, mutant,  
pure, creation, or deviation. Rumiko's reality. Even Ace's  
reality.  
  
But I wouldn't want to live in his, mind you. :)  
 


End file.
